[Whalen]

We are renting a ranch house in the Village of duval.
We have noticed that some of our neighbors have whole house water filter
systerm in their homes.
Questions:
Are they necessary,
How bad is FL water (will we glow in the dark after few months)
and how costly are they to install and maintain?

Thanks for your input.

[banjo5]

Originally Posted by Whalen

We are renting a ranch house in the Village of duval.
We have noticed that some of our neighbors have whole house water filter
systerm in their homes.
Questions:
Are they necessary,
How bad is FL water (will we glow in the dark after few months)
and how costly are they to install and maintain?

Thanks for your input.

I'm not sure what the price would be in TV but I paid around $200 to have one installed in New York last year.
If you're handy, you can do it yourself, not too much to it, if you can sweat a joint you can install it.
I had mine installed because the way my present home is set up, the basement where the water comes into the house is all finished so the filter had to be inside a wall. I didn't trust my plumbing abilities on something that would be hidden so I paid a plumber to do it. I did, however, make a hinged door to give me access to the filter assembly so I can replace the filter.
Not a great expense either way you do it. Filter assemblies are available from Home Depot and other home stores as well. I got mine from the plumber. I don't know if it's any better than you could buy yourself. Filters are cheap, a few bucks and they last for several months, depending on how bad your water is.
As for the water quality, I'll leave that to TV residents to answer. We've noticed a funny taste and smell to the water but that might just be because we were visitors and not used to the water, or it could be a local or temporary thing. Certainly the TV residents can answer that.

[spk7951]

When we moved here last year as soon as we had a working phone we were swamped with calls from the water filtration companies. Folks we had met during our two Lifestyle visits had told us that putting in a water filtration system should be a priority. We did not find the water to be too bad as compared to what we were used to but when the filtration sales folks did their tests of our water it convinced us to go with a complete house filtration system. Watching these tests was interesting because our new refrigerator had a filter in it and it tested as the clearest even against bottled water.
From what I can remember the prices ranged from $1,999 to around $4,000. We opted to go with a company that had not bothered us with phone calls and paid around $3,200. Computerized system tells us when the salt level is low and also lets us know our water usage. Simply a personal preference on our part and the units in the lower range may also do the trick but the idea of some of these folks including soaps and shampoos with their product, to keep you buying them, we just did not care for that approach.

[JohnN]

water is hard, but you don't really need a filter

[Taj44]

Originally Posted by JohnN

water is hard, but you don't really need a filter

We live in Mallory, and we've noticed no problems with the water. We have the filtration unit on the refrigerator which we use for drinking water, and it works for us. For our situation, the wholehouse thing would be overkill.

[MMC24]

We put in a whole house water softener system in our home the second month we moved in. It was about $750 including installation. That has eliminated the hard water problem. As for water filtering, I put a filtering system under the sink to filter all water used in the kitchen. We also purchase bottled water for drinking and coffee making.

[downeaster]

There is water treatment (expensive) and water filtration (inexpensive).

The only problem with the water here is some of us (me) find the taste not to our liking. Putting a treatment system in is overkill. I simply bought two in-line cartridge filters at Home Depot, or maybe Lowes, (it was nearly 8 years ago). Installed one on the refrigerator water line and one under the kitchen sink on a dedicated drinking water line. The original cartridges have been replaced.

Our previous home in North Florida had hard water and I installed a treatment system (Home Depot) there for less than $600.00. We do not feel the water here is hard enough to warrant that.

The local water supplier for The Villages sends each homeowner a full report each year to certify the water is fit for human consumption.

[OpusX1]

You can buy a water softener and filtration system from the people that call you for $3,000-$5,000. You do not need it. The water is a bit hard but not bad tasting. I think it has a lot of lime stone in it. We bought a softener from Home Depot and a whole house charcoal filter. If you are handy and ambitious you can install them yourself. I would rather play golf and pickleball so I hired a plumber. As I recall, this was last March after all, The softener, filter and installation was pretty close to $725.00. We like the soft water and have had a water softener for about 35 years in 4 different homes.

[borjo]

There's always a Brita filter water pitcher. $5.00/cartridge x 3/year. Works for me!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Taj44

We live in Mallory, and we've noticed no problems with the water. We have the filtration unit on the refrigerator which we use for drinking water, and it works for us. For our situation, the wholehouse thing would be overkill.

I agree.

[BarbinNH]

The one thing I've noticed in Florida water (whether at Disney World or The Villages) is a chlorine taste. Maybe it's because we've been "off the grid" as far as water is concerned for the last 11 years with a well. Our well water tastes great; course, it's very, very hard...

Does anybody else notice a chlorine taste? Or is the taste normal for "city water?"

[Bryan]

Although there are legitimate companies around, water treatment systems is one of the biggest (in terms of cost) scams around. TV water is a little hard and some may prefer to install filters but to install a whole water treatment system, as a cost of up to $6000 ($3500 is more a norm) is overkill.

Some of the companies use "scare" tactics to sell you a treatment system, some have "official" sounding names like "Florida Water Company", and some are just outright frauds. Best advice I can offer, especially if you think you might want "something", is to deal with a reputable company that has been around awhile, check them out with the BBB and with both Villages offices of Seniors Vs Crime (Sumter and Marion), and use all your due diliagnce before making the purchase. Also, try your water as it is delivered to your house and do nothing unless you want to do it for personal preference reasons because that is no "health" reason to do anything to it other than "peace of mind".

[Whalen]

Thanks for all your replies.
A lot of good info to help us make a decision.

[73Goat]

For my money I'd put in a reverse osmosis filter at the kitchen sink and in line filters in the showers.

[Bryant]

Do the filtration/softener systems eliminate those water stains on your faucets and in your glass coffee pot. BTW, I use filtered (PUR on the faucet) water for my coffee and the glass pot still gets awful water stains. Thanks.